35 hrs per week (average over 4 week rota)

Transcription

1 Job description JOB TITLE: TEAM: GROUP: LOCATION: REPORTS TO: Support Worker (shift rota) Children s Section Operations Dover Atrium, Kent Kent Manager GRADE: 3 HOURS: 35 hrs per week (average over 4 week rota) Context and Purpose of the Job The Children s Section is responsible for delivering services to separated children seeking asylum and refugee children. The Section also leads on raising the profile of our clients and advocates on their behalf. Supporting this work, the Section also promotes good practice to statutory and voluntary agencies and seeks to influence government to national level. The Refugee Council supports separated children across the country from our offices in Kent, London, Luton, Leeds and Birmingham. This job will be based in Dover, providing a temporary safeguarding service for separated children and other vulnerable clients entering the country, ensuring that their basic needs are met. The unit is reactive to the needs of clients, who may arrive at any time. It is therefore staffed on a 24 hour basis, and staff are expected to cover a variety of shifts. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act Therefore, all convictions, cautions and bind-overs, including those regarded as spent, must be declared at the application stage. An offer of employment is subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service check. Repeat checks are

2 initiated every two years. This post is funded by the Home Office and they require that the post-holder undergo a Counter Terrorism Check (CTC); an offer of employment is subject to this check.

3 Main Duties and Responsibilities 1. To work in the best interests of the child. 2. To provide shift cover for separated children and other clients, such as families and vulnerable adults arriving in Dover, in a lone working capacity. 3. To ensure all safeguarding issues are accurately recorded using the appropriate internal recording mechanisms. 4. To ensure all safeguarding issues are reported on time to all relevant agencies. 5. To assess need basic needs of newly arrived clients and provide as appropriate. 6. To recognise indicators of confusion or distress, and respond according to the needs of the situation. 7. To respond to the unpredictable time of client arrival and plan workload accordingly. 8. To work effectively with a range of statutory bodies that are part of the chain of responsibility for separated children, including the Home Office and Local Authority staff. 9. To keep appropriate and up to date records in the agreed format, and to report on time all necessary information as agreed with the managers. 10. To carry out effective handover, reporting all necessary information regarding the clients who use the unit. 11. To carry out all work with regard to the Refugee Council s organisational policies and procedures, in particular to adhere to the Safeguarding of Children policy and procedures. 12. To provide a positive working role model for other colleagues and clients. 13. To undertake training as required. Additional Information Health & Safety The post holder is responsible for:

4 Cooperating with the Refugee Council in delivering all legal responsibilities in respect of your own and your colleagues, volunteers, clients and others health and safety whilst at work. Becoming familiar with the Refugee Council s Health & Safety Policy and procedures including evacuation procedures at your workplace. Carrying out risk assessments of your own work and especially of your own workstation to ensure that you do not expose yourself or others to unnecessary risk. Flexibility In order to deliver services effectively, a degree of flexibility is needed and the postholder may be required to perform work not specifically referred to above. Such duties will, however, fall within the scope of the job, at the appropriate grade. The job description will be subject to periodic review with the post-holder to ensure it accurately reflects the duties of the job. Equal Opportunities Statement As part of its recruitment policy, the Refugee Council intends to ensure that no prospective or actual employee is discriminated against on the basis of race, sex, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation, employment status, class, disability, age, religious belief or political persuasion, or is disadvantaged by any condition or requirement which is not demonstrably justifiable. Working at the Refugee Council A commitment to the work of the Refugee Council. Personal Effectiveness With the support of their manager the post-holder will need to effectively manage their own workload and medium and long term plans and objectives. Flexible Working This job cannot be carried out working from home.

5 Person Specification JOB TITLE: Support Worker (waking nights) Qualifications Essential 1. Employment is subject to satisfactory DBS and Counter Terrorism checks (CTC). Experience Essential 1. Experience of working with vulnerable clients who may present a range of needs. 2. Experience of working with children in a residential home or reception centres. Desirable 1. Experience of providing advice to separated children and young people. Knowledge, skills and abilities Essential 1. A good understanding of equal opportunities legislation and good practice and in particular how it relates to working with refugee children. 2. A good understanding of child protection and safeguarding issues, and knowledge of how to record and report. 3. The ability to assess and respond to basic needs of vulnerable young people.

6 4. An understanding of the physical, emotional and psychological need of refugee Children. 5. Good written and spoken English of a sufficient standard to produce concise written records. 6. The ability to work under pressure and prioritise work effectively. 7. The ability to work effectively and supportively as part of a team of advisers, interpreters and volunteers. 8. The ability to maintain working relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders. 9. A good knowledge of IT sufficient to maintain database records and case notes, work with and manage your own correspondence. Desirable 2. Accurate and up-to-date knowledge of UK asylum procedures as they relate to separated children. 3. Written and spoken proficiency of other languages that are commonly used by children seeking Asylum in the UK June 2017